Dear COVID-19,
You do not know who I am nor it is important. You have taken many things from me. The time I had left with my host family and school year abroad in France. My summer dedicated to throwing it back to the Roaring 20s. Visiting my brother in Texas. Going to the beach. Going out and about. Many, many things.
The Louvre Museum at night during a school trip to Paris, France. A flea market in Aix-En-Provence, France.
Despite that, you’ve given me many things, too. Time with my mom and grandma. Time to meet and bond with my cousins. A stronger relationship with my sister. Revealing who my true friends are. Time to find new hobbies. Time to practice my performance skills. Time to put myself out into the world of social media while not being obsessively on my phone. Time to binge on great shows. Time to enjoy beautiful sunsets. Time to become photogenic and unleash my inner photographer. Time to taste all kinds of music. Time to sit with myself and face my own demons. Time to enjoy being alone without feeling so lonely.
It deeply upsets me that I can’t go back to school and enjoy the outside world because this country is not united. States are not all on the same page. Some people do not take this pandemic seriously at the cost of others who have to bury their loved ones. The government is relaxing and forcing us to fend for ourselves. Local governments either strictly mandating health guidelines or being nonchalant in the face of death because they want their “freedom” and to “get back to their normal lives” since stocks are dropping and company owners are not making the copious amounts of money they make when society is open. People are still out there partying like it’s Coachella instead of just following basic health rules so this virus can be under proper control and we can really reopen without suffering a massive wave of cases and deaths.
COVID, I do hate you but I can’t blame you. You should have not gotten this big and fatal but people always underestimate you and make it so easy to rob so many of lives. I just wish people were sensible enough to understand that they are not the only ones in the world and that you are deadlier than they think you are.
To the future I fear for,
Kao Morakinyo